The earliest record of cement Terrazzo
usage was during the Roman Era. Terrazzo is a
mixture of loose stone aggregates such as marble,
granite, etc. mixed with a binder such as cement
or Epoxy. Once the terrazzo mixture is trawled,
dried, grind and polished, the mixture of natural
stone colors and binder creates unparalleled esthetic
looks that are desired through out the history
of architecture in elegant floor settings. The
majority of buildings date from the early 20's
used cement terrazzo. The design and creativity
of working with different colors and stone aggregates
peaked during the Art Deco period. Many cement
terrazzo floors built since the 20's, that had
minimum to no maintenance still stands as a testimony
of durability and beauty. Many Impressive Buildings
especially during the Art-Deco Era used terrazzo
floors for flexibility in design, durability and
natural beauty, including The Empire State, and
the Chrysler Buildings, etc.

In early 1900's cement production
came in variety of colors. As such the mixture
for the terrazzo color binder was always consistent.
Gradually as cement manufacturers eliminated color
choices and introduced color additives, Choices
of colors without additives became very limited
such as for example today the basic cement manufacturers
produce "White", "Gray", and
"Green" tones. Those developments made
mixing of terrazzo colors a perfect science, Any
changes in water/cement ratio would result in
a different color. Any slight changes in the cement
coloration, aggregate mixture, type of aggregates,
would result in different terrazzo coloration.
In order to be consistent in color, using the
same mix on the job, at one time (one batch) was
the ideal way to go. However on large size projects
many batches were needed, so the key to uniformity
in colors was the exact mix through out the project.

Working with cement as a terrazzo
binder became challenging, and created many technical
and design limitations. Since cement after dehydration
shrinks and may leave hairline cracks, the terrazzo
floors had to have patterns of "Diamonds",
"Checkers", or other designs that limited
metal strip joints to 3' or 4' size depending
on the depth of the terrazzo. Floors had to be
structurally designed to carry the extra +/- 25lb/sq-ft
weight of dead-loads. Prefabricated terrazzo stairs,
base-moldings and other terrazzo elements became
heavy and very thick +/- 2". Repairing cement
terrazzo floors became a hit or miss game, since
wet cement after drying may have totally a different
color and when patching, one does not know the
color until the terrazzo mixture dries out and
the terrazzo is grind and polished.

Cement terrazzo floors are still
widely practiced in the terrazzo industry. Flooring
with built in heating elements, or presence of
water/moisture for dehydration lends itself to
cement terrazzo, rather than epoxy terrazzo. Ideal
usage of cement terrazzo is for exterior building
sidewalks, vaults and patios. Rustic Terrazzo
creates rough surface and exposes the beauty of
colored stone/glass aggregates.

Interior/
Exterior Epoxy Terrazzo Floors.

Unlike cement terrazzo, Epoxy offers
superior strength, waterproofing & infinite
true colors (colors always consistent). Our terrazzo
floors are on the high end of design combining
unique and exquisite mix of marble, granite, quartz,
mother-of-pearls, colored glass, sea shells, glass
mirrors and infinite other material possibilities.
We work with designers to achieve the desired
look for materials used for the right setting,
creating the desired environment. Our terrazzo
floors undergo tremendous amount of sub-floor
work to compensate for thermal movements, eliminate
concrete cracks that can travel from the existing
structural concrete slab to the terrazzo floor
surface. E-poxy filler is used for floor leveling
rather than concrete or thin-set mortar mix, and
an elastomeric waterproofing membrane is used
to buffer the terrazzo from the layer below. Basically
our terrazzo floors sits on an independent rigid
floor, regardless of the receiving floor, constructed
out of concrete, metal-pan or wood flooring. A
new hi-rise construction adjacent to one of our
terrazzo floor projects on Park Avenue South,
NYC, resulted in deep excavation and pile driving
foundations. Our terrazzo floors survived the
earth shaking pile-driving forces without any
cracks, a true testimony to the strength, resilience
and rigidity of our terrazzo floors. This type
of work offers quality rather than quantity, making
our terrazzo projects selective work. In recent
years we have joint-ventured with other terrazzo
contractors to assist in providing terrazzo components
that are costly to pour and finish on-site. Such
as cove-base, stairs, and terrazzo art designs,
creating and leading a new era in the terrazzo
industry. Durite is currently providing support
and assisting terrazzo contractors.

Epoxy
Concrete Floors

Many designers like the idea of
creating floors that look like concrete, but has
the flexibility of epoxy for creating large sections
such as 10'X10' metal grid, etc. Durite has perfected
the use of fine aggregate Quartzite polishing
and grinding. Quartzite are very hard to grind
and requires special stones for grinding.
The end result look of quartzite epoxy floors
are a uniform colors with large sections highly
modern and stylized, seamless and crack free.
These types of floors have advantages of offering
infinite true colors to Designer/Architects. Durite
has applied this type of flooring on numerous
projects ranging from high fashion designer floors
to altra-modern restaurants. The cost-effective
economical success along with high esthetics,
uniform floor colors and ability to carry the
same material to Table-tops, Bar-tops, and wall
surfaces, no doubt makes this type of flooring
the premiere choice of many Designers/ Architects
in the future.